5 Iconic Hotels for a Movie Lover to Visit

Nothing beats the thrill of visiting a filming location for any cinephile. But what if we told you that you could stay there, swim in the pool and maybe get lunch and drinks there too? Here are 5 iconic hotels for a movie lover to visit.

Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, USA

Boasting of over 600 rooms, four restaurants and bars, and more than 20 Hollywood movie credits, the Biltmore’s also hosted eight Oscar ceremonies, and was used numerous times in the ’90s sitcom Ally McBeal.

Source: discoverlosangeles.com

Why so popular? It could be the massive wood-beamed ceilings, the carved marble fountains and cast bronze stairwells but it’s probably because Ghostbusters was filmed here. The filming took place at the music room of the hotel. The well-designed chamber is best known for its ornate frosted glass and wrought iron paned ceiling and is also recognized as it served as the campaign headquarters for John F. Kennedy during the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

Hotel Raphael, Paris, France

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A magnificent hotel built during the Roaring Twenties, the Hotel Raphael became a retreat for a multitude of Hollywood stars with names including Charles Bronson, Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable, Steve McQueen, Roger Moore, Kirk Douglas, and Marlon Brando (who really enjoyed his Parisian butter.)

It can be seen in films such as Wes Anderson’s Hotel Chevalier and a lesser known musical war comedy called Grandpa is the Resistance.

Now a 5-star hotel, the Paris destination certainly boasts a great location situated near the Arch of Triumph and the Champs-Elysses. It also comes with 36 suites and 47 guest rooms, the gourmet Raphael Restaurant, a fitness area, a business center, a bar and lounge, and a roof terrace complete with panoramic views of the city.

Park Hyatt Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

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You’ll remember this 5-star hotel from Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, which stars Bill Murray as an aging movie star who’s shooting an ad for Japanese whiskey. He meets the beautiful but lonely Scarlett Johansson, and the two go off to sing karaoke and hardly speak to each other.

The hotel boasts of a 47th-floor swimming pool, complete with glass roof which is an oasis above it all. Afternoon tea in the peaceful Peak Lounge is the place to be if you want a quiet respite from the city’s bustle. If the skies are clear, we recommend having lunch on the 40th floor in Kozue and gaze upon Mount Fuji as you tuck into tasty treats.

The Plaza, New York City

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The century-old, 282-room Plaza is the place where The Beatles first stayed when they came to the USA and in addition is a New York landmark. The extravagant hotel has served as the setting in numerous films and works of literature, including the Eloise books, in which the mischievous eponymous character lives at the property.

It was first featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 spy thriller North by Northwest starring Cary Grant. Fun Fact: shooting at the hotel was very convenient for Grant, as he was living there at the time.

The hotel can also be seen in Home Alone 2, The Way We Were, Almost Famous and more recently in The Great Gatsby and American Hustle.

Görlitzer Warenhaus, Germany

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We’ve saved a zinger as the last entrant. The Grand Budapest Hotel was widely acclaimed and much loved when it came out. However, the hotel shown in the movie is actually a department store in Germany.

The Görlitzer department store is an airy, majestic structure with striking brass chandeliers, a beautiful leaded glass dome over the atrium, and a grand staircase leading to the balconied terraces of the upper floors. After an opening in 1913, the Art Nouveau establishment rivaled Berlin’s Kaufhaus Des Westens (KaDeWe) and London’s Selfridges. After escaping World War II unscathed, the Goerlitz department store had been closed for years when Wes Anderson chose it for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Keep in mind that staying at these hotels don’t come cheap. But if you’re feeling adventurous, visiting these places is not difficult. You can head over to Cozmo Travel to plan your trip to some these exciting film locations. If you’re looking to visit something a little more unorthodox, you could try visiting some of the more quirky hotels around the world.